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Marketing Conferences To Check Out In 2018

There’s no shortage of Apple-focused conferences for professionals to gather with peers. We have once again collected details—or at least dates and links—for all the Apple-related conferences we can find; if we’ve missed any, let us know in the comments, and we’ll update the article. We’ve sorted them by date so you can scroll through and see which might fit into your schedule.

Our apologies for forgetting to get this article into your email before this. We first published it on our site in late January, but we held off on putting it into an issue because so few conferences had full details available at that point. And then, frankly, we just lost track of it during our Internet infrastructure transition.

Mac Admin & Developer Conference UK: February 20-21, 2018

The Mac Admin & Developer Conference is, as they say in the UK, just what it says on the tin. Now in its third year, it offers sessions on the Terminal, automation, security, device management, and other topics of interest to Mac IT professionals. It’s held at the Leicester Square in London.

MacTech Pro: March–September 2018

A regional event series from the folks behind MacTech Conference, MacTech Pro is designed for professional Apple techs and consultants. Events are single-track, hotel-based seminars, and the all-day schedule includes lunch. Topics may include creating a storage strategy, deployment methods, scripting Python, IoT and home automation, security, troubleshooting, and more. The MacTech Pro events take place in nine cities throughout the United States:

March 14 in Boston, MA

April 18 in Denver, CO

May 2 in Seattle, WA

May 16 in Washington, D.C.

June 20 in Atlanta, GA

July 18 in Chicago, IL

August 15 in Orlando, FL

August 29 in San Francisco, CA

September 26 in New York, NY

Appdevcon: March 15–16, 2018

Formerly known as Mdevcon, Appdevcon is held in Amsterdam for mobile app developers, with sessions for both iOS and Android developers.

iOSCon: March 22–23, 2018

Returning for its fifth year, iOSCon takes place at CodeNode in London for two days. The program features a number of sessions on building apps with Swift.

Command-iT: March 24, 2018

If you work in Apple IT and speak French, check out the one-day Command-iT event at Futuroscope Park in Poitiers, France.

App Builders Switzerland: April 16–17, 2018

Another conference for mobile app developers, App Builders Switzerland will take place in Lugano. It offers two tracks: one for iOS developers and another for Android developers.

iOSDevCamp Colorado: May 4–5, 2018

Celebrating its ninth year, iOSDevCamp Colorado is an informal conference-style event in Colorado Springs for iOS developers that starts on a Friday evening and runs all day Saturday.

ACEs Conference: May 9–10, 2018

Organized by Apple consultant Justin Esgar, the Baltimore-based ACEs Conference is in its fourth year and promises to be “the place for inspiration, ideas, business networking, and instantly-applicable knowledge.” Focusing on ways that Apple consultants can grow their IT businesses, topics include brand coaching, business workshops, and even meditation for dealing with high-stress situations the job entails.

Speakers include Adam Engst and other well-known names from the Apple IT and enterprise communities, like Jamf’s Charles Edge.

WWDC: June 4–8, 2018

As in previous years, tickets are distributed by lottery to registered developers who wish to attend. Tickets cost $1599, but Apple offers scholarships for students that include lodging.

If you can’t score a WWDC ticket but want to be nearby, there is an adjoining conference: AltConf.

AltConf: June 4–7, 2018

AltConf is a free, community-driven event that takes place alongside WWDC, offering additional talks and events for those who weren’t lucky enough to get into WWDC or who want a break from Apple’s Reality Distortion Field. Tickets are free, but donating $300 guarantees a seat if the space fills up.

AltConf London: June 4, 2018

If you’re in London on June 4th, swing by AltConf London, a new one-day event at the Royal Horticultural Halls. Like all AltConf events, it is free and features a drink reception, keynote live stream, and panel discussion.

Layers: June 4–6, 2018

A conference for designers, Layers is “about design, technology, and all the tasks that lie between.” This three-day conference takes place at the Montgomery Theater, across from WWDC. Speakers include UX leader Busra Demirci, lettering artist and author Jessica Hische, and developer and designer Litha Soyizwapi.

try! Swift San Jose: June 8, 2018

Yet another event that’s taking place in parallel with WWDC, try! Swift San Jose offers a free panel of Swift open-source contributors at the Hilton attached to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. It’s free, but if you donate any amount you’re guaranteed entry.

MacDevOps:YVR: June 7–8, 2018

MacDevOps:YVR is held in Vancouver, Canada on the campus of Simon Fraser University. If you code as part of managing Apple devices, check out this conference. Speakers include Meg Ciliberti of Shopify, Jessica Deen of Microsoft, and Zach Wasserman of Kollide. Tickets provide over 20 educational sessions; 10 hours of networking; an evening reception; and breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

X World: June 27–29, 2018

For those who manage Mac and iOS installations in a support, lab manager, network technician, or systems administrator role, the Australian Apple University Consortium puts on the X World conference. It takes place at the University of Technology Sydney, Broadway City Campus.

iOSDevCampDC: July 13, 2018

iOSDevCampDC is a one-day, one-track conference focused on
iPhone and iPad development in McLean, Virginia.

Macstock Conference & Expo: July 21–22, 2018

Macstock 2018 is returning for its fourth year in Woodstock, IL, providing one of the few conferences focused on productivity for end users. Speakers include Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus, videographer Wally Cherwinski, and podcaster Allison Sheridan.

FileMaker Developer Conference: August 6–9, 2018

This one’s pretty specific, but since the FileMaker Developer Conference is open to the public and FileMaker is an Apple subsidiary, we’re including it. It takes place at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas and provides more than 80 sessions aimed at helping you create FileMaker apps for mobile, cloud, and on-premise environments. Technologies covered include REST, JSON, cURL, SSL, JavaScript, SQL, OAuth, AI, iOS, and more.

/dev/world: August 26–28, 2018

For those in Australasia who are interested in learning more about developing for Apple computers and devices, the Apple University Consortium offers /dev/world in Melbourne. The conference sessions cover a wide range of topics including the iOS SDK, OS X frameworks, Apple and third-party development tools, and open-source software.

360|iDev: August 26–29, 2018

Claiming to be “the leading indie iOS/Mac (and watchOS, and tvOS) developer conference,” 360|iDev happens at the Grand Hyatt Denver in Denver. It provides four days of hands-on training, sessions, and community networking, all in Swift.

iOSDevUK: September 3–6, 2018

Focused on iOS development topics, the eighth installment of iOSDevUK takes place in Aberystwyth, UK. Tutorials include Swift Best Practices, Augmented Reality, Serverside Swift, and Google Cloud Firestore.

try! Swift: September 4–5, 2018

try! Swift is an international community gathering about the latest advances in Apple’s Swift programming language. It is scheduled for the New World Stages in New York City. Speakers include Ash Furrow of Artsy, Erica Correa of XO Group Inc, and Sebastiaan de With, formerly of Apple.

MacTrack Legal: September 27–29, 2018

If you’re a Mac-using lawyer, check out the MacTrack Legal conference, held at Disney World in Orlando. Speakers include Katie Floyd, an attorney who co-hosts the Mac Power Users podcast with David Sparks of MacSparky, Randy Juip, and Tom Lambotte. Sessions cover document workflow, communicating via video, GTD productivity, automated marketing systems, best practices in case management, and intermediate to advanced PDF work.

The conference hotel is within walking distance of Disney’s Epcot, and the conference overlaps with the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival for anyone who wants to venture out of the conference or bring a spouse looking for something else to do. General admission tickets cost $825 and last-minute registration is $925, but you can save $50 by using the coupon code TIDBITS.

Digital Book World: October 2–4, 2018

If you’re sad about the absence of the iBooks Author Conference, don’t be, because it has been rolled into the Digital Book World event (see “iBooks Author Conference Highlights Worries about iBooks Ecosystem,” 24 October 2017), which takes place at the Music City Center in Nashville. Sessions cover all aspects of the publishing industry, such as iBooks Author’s strengths and weaknesses, sexual harassment in publishing, promoting books on social media, podcasting in the publishing industry, and using the blockchain in publishing. Legendary tech journalist Walt Mossberg is keynoting, so you won’t want to miss it.

MacSysAdmin: October 2–5, 2018

The premier event for Mac and iOS system administrators in Europe, MacSysAdmin takes place in Göteborg, Sweden. Talks are aimed at system administrators in enterprises, schools, and institutions, along with technical consultants, consulting firms, and distributors. All sessions are held in English.

CMD-D: Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp: October 15–17, 2018

Following on last year’s CMD-D conference, automation gurus Sal Soghoian and Ray Robertson are putting on the first-ever CMD-D: Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp, which provides three days of intensive AppleScript training with hands-on exercises in a small-group environment. CMD-D: Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp takes place in Cartersville, GA, outside of Atlanta.

Swift By Northwest: October 18–21, 2018

With a focus on Swift language training for iOS and Mac developers, Swift By Northwest takes place in Portland, Oregon. Speakers include developers Brent Simmons, Daniel Steinberg, Dave Delong, and Jaimee Newberry.

Jamf Nation User Conference: October 23–25, 2018

Much of being an Apple IT administrator these days involves device management. Jamf, one of the leading suppliers of device management systems with Jamf Pro and Jamf Now, puts on the Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC) with the purpose of “empowering people, transforming business processes and making IT life easier.”

Held in downtown Minneapolis, the JNUC provides product demo and preview sessions, in-depth tech sessions, sessions dedicated to Apple services, and certification courses. We wrote about it last year in “JNUC 2017: A Glimpse into the World of Apple Enterprise” (3 November 2017).

try! Swift Bangalore: November, 2018

try! Swift Bangalore focuses on Swift development in India sometime in November 2018. No other information is available at the moment.

CreateWorld: November 29–December 1, 2018

CreateWorld is a three-day performance, presentation, and professional development event aimed at academics, teachers, and technical staff who use Apple technology in education and digital arts disciplines. It’s held in Brisbane, Australia, at the Brisbane South Bank campus of Griffith University. Sessions include presentations on teaching and learning, new media work, performance, techniques and approaches in practice-led research fields including photography, cyber-arts, music, e-learning, film, animation and design.

No Details Available Yet

There were quite a few conferences that hadn’t explicitly canceled or announced details for 2018 when we first published this article, but the list is now down to one. We’ll update this article when we learn more. If you’re affiliated with Úll, please let us know what’s up.

If we’ve missed any notable Apple-focused conferences that are open to the public and attract attendees from a broad geographic area, please let us know in the comments, and we’ll look into adding them.